


A Freak and a Shrimp

by voidxgear



Category: Devil May Cry, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voidxgear/pseuds/voidxgear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When young Roxas is forced to move to a new town and attend a new elementary school, will he be able to make new friends?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Freak and a Shrimp

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't yet decided if I'm going to add more chapters to this or not...

Despite the fact that Roxas never really felt like he fit in anywhere, he was able to make a couple of friends at Twilight Elementary. His friendship with them became something very special to him, so when his parents broke the news that they had to move away when his father changed jobs, he was very sad. In fact, he threw a pretty big fuss when moving day finally came around, having to be practically dragged kicking and crying. 

It wasn't that Fortuna Elementary wasn't a nice school. It wasn't that the teachers were mean or that the work was above his level. He was just....lonely. 

Everyone else seemed to have friends and whenever he tried to talk to anyone, he was belittled or ignored. Roxas was a little smaller than the rest of the kids his age, so name calling that resulted would often bitterly remind him of this fact. He could only be called "shrimp" so many times before, eventually, he figured it would just be best if he was, well, all alone. 

In school he drew pictures of Twilight Town, or sometimes of Fortuna, however while the Twilight Town pictures were always bright and positive, the Fortuna pictures were much darker, featuring dark clouds hanging overhead or people in them being sad or mean. 

"Roxas, you have got to stop drawing pictures like this." His teacher said with an exasperated sigh at another drawing he handed in. "Don't you want to draw something happier?"

The little blond boy looked away shamefully, crossing his arms. "I'll draw whatever I want."

One day, things changed. 

He'd never really noticed Nero before. Sure, they were in the same class, but not a lot of people noticed Nero, actually. Nero preferred it that way. He lingered in the back of the class or otherwise away from all the other kids at a safe distance where they would leave him be. He could only handle being called a freak so many times before, eventually, he figured it would just be best if he was all alone. 

Before Roxas started school there, Nero was already wearing big hoodies and gloves to keep his devil bringer from being seen. Pretty much everyone in the class knew about it at this point, but it still had become a sore subject for Nero, so all he wanted to do anymore was hide it. So he did.

Most kids liked recess. Roxas did too, once upon a time, but it wasn't as much fun without a friend. He mostly just tried to avoid the meaner kids in the class now. 

It was a day like any other, the kids all rushing to the playground excitedly. Roxas tried to keep up, though he wasn't sure why. It didn't matter, because he usually ended up being pushed or shoved around anyway. By the time everyone was outside, he sighed to himself, wondering if he could find something to do other than sit by his lonesome again. To his pleasent surprise, there was an open swing on the swingset. A small smile formed on his face as he quickly made his way over, however he was suddenly shoved to the cement by some larger kids, hitting the ground face first.

"Outta the way!"

"Shouldn't you be on the baby swing, shrimp?"

"Move before I step on you!"

He lifted his head from the ground, first seeing the kids having fun on the swingset but then something else entered his vision. Or rather, someone, kneeling and looking down at him with a concerned look.

"Hey...are you okay?"

Roxas blinked as he made out Nero's face looming over him, the taller boy's hands on his knees as he continued to stare down at him. "You're that kid that's always sitting in the back of the class." He said, perhaps more out of surprise than anything. 

Nero made a face, looking unsure of himself. "Yeah. But are you okay? They pushed you pretty hard." He said, holding out a hand to the blond.

Roxas hesitated, but took his hand and pushed himself up, brushing dirt off of his front. "Yeah, I'm okay." He said. "Thanks."

"You should stay away from those guys. They're pretty mean."

"They pushed me. All I wanted to do was swing." 

"Well, take it from me. They're stupid." Nero said, sounding almost sad as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off. He walked right past Roxas, not looking back as the blond turned and watched him go, as if the back of Nero's head would explain to him what just happened. Nero kept walking until he came to a shadowed corner and sat alone, staring off into space. 

Who was Nero anyway, and why was he always alone? Did he not have any friends? Roxas found himself wanting to know more.

***

The next day at recess, Roxas didn't bother keeping up with the other kids. This time he walked at his own pace outside, not in a hurry to get out, but still glad he could get out of the stuffy classroom and get away from the teacher who hated his drawings for a little bit. When he actually got outside, the first thing he saw was Nero sitting on a swing, the same swing he tried to get on himself the day before. He wasn't even swinging, just kind of sitting there slowly moving back and forth. 

That confused Roxas. What was he doing? Well, maybe he should ask him. 

He picked up his pace and walked over in his direction when the same group of kids that shoved Roxas the day before approached Nero, grabbing the collar of his hoodie, and jerked him off the swing. 

"This is reserved for us! No freaks allowed."

Nero didn't move, which worried Roxas. He rushed over, balling his tiny hands into fists, shouting at the other kids. "Hey! Leave him alone!" 

"Oh, isn't that cute, the shrimp is defending the freak!"

"He isn't a freak!"

"That's what _you_ think! Come on guys, we don't have to waste our time with these small fries. These swings are boring anyway." With that, the other kids walked off, giving the pair dirty looks. As they left, Roxas's expression softened as he leaned over to Nero, who still hadn't moved. 

"Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone." 

Roxas frowned. "But why?" 

Nero was making an effort to hide his right arm, but since he was practically curled up over it, Roxas couldn't tell why. "Just go away!" 

"Are you hurt? Is your arm broken? Should I get a teacher?"

"No! No, my arm's not broken. Just leave me alone." 

"I think you're lying. You were nice to me yesterday, why are you yelling at me?" 

"I just want to be left alone, okay?" 

Roxas looked hurt and felt sadness looming over him. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he looked away. "Fine. I see how it is. I just wanted to be nice." He started to walk away when, finally, Nero moved, and what Roxas saw caused him to stop in his tracks.

When Nero had hit the ground, it had ripped his clothes, especially over his right arm, causing what was underneath that he'd struggled so hard to hide to become visible. Nero couldn't even look at Roxas, he simply sat there on the ground, looking down at his legs. 

"What's wrong with your arm?" Roxas asked carefully. Nero's clothes were ripped pretty bad, making the colors and texture of his skin clear, but it was still difficult to see exactly what it was. In response, Nero lazily pulled his glove off his right hand, then pulled his hoodie off over his head, where he was wearing a simple t-shirt underneath. Roxas couldn't take his eyes off his devil bringer, now fully visible. 

"It's stupid." Nero pouted. "I'm a freak." 

"Does it hurt?"

"No." Nero said defensively. 

"Can you still, like....move it and do stuff with it?"

"....Yeah..." Nero replied, sounding more confused and looking at Roxas like he had two heads.

"So what's the big deal?" 

Nero's eyes widened for a moment, wondering just how dense Roxas was. His expression slowly transformed into a glare. "Don't you see it? I'm a freak, I'm not normal, I don't even know if I'm human. No one ever wants to play with me or be friends with me because I'm a freak. Don't you get it?"

Roxas frowned. "I wanna be your friend." 

Nero was quiet for a moment. Roxas didn't say anything either, his bold statement hanging in the air between them. After a moment, Nero reached for his torn hoodie and pulled it back over his head, along with the glove over his hand. "You don't really mean that....do you?"

"But I do mean it. You were the first person to be nice to me since I moved here. I don't care what your arm looks like. I wanna be your friend."

The bell rang, signaling that recess was over and it was time to return to class.

Nero's expression shifted and Roxas could swear he was smiling, however he hid his face as he finally got up to his feet before Roxas. "You wanna know a secret?" He asked, turning and making his way back to class. 

Roxas quickly walked and caught up with him, anxious to find out. "Yeah! What's the secret?"

"I wanted to be your friend, too. I was saving that swing for you."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. Sorry you didn't get a chance to go on it."

Roxas smiled. "It's okay! A friend is way cooler than a swing anyway."

Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
